MASsoft and ESPsoft set up (continued)
The following information represents experience setting up communications between a Hiden instrument and a PC. Most problems have been found to be due to the set up of the PC, and thus are readily overcome. This is by no means a comprehensive list of all possible problems, but may provide some help. An attempt has been made to link solutions with problems, but some solutions apply to more than one problem, so you are advised to read the whole document if your problem resists a listed solution. Windows can sometimes be a tricky environment to set up (usually it's not), so if you initially get problems, don't worry too much, they can usually be solved fairly easily.
Specific problems - MASsoft or ESPsoft does not launch or gives errors on launch (6 possibilities).
- MASsoft starts up but most of the menu options are grey
- MASsoft starts but will not run a scan.
- MASsoft starts but the Mass Spectrometer is Unavailble
- ESPsoft starts but the instrument is “Not found”
- MASsoft fails to re-interrogate on a serial connection
- MASsoft fails to re-interrogate over a network
- MASsoft gives errors during re-interrogation
- MASsoft starts but gives “Unknown Logical Device” error when run.
- MASsoft or ESPsoft starts but gives “Comm Port Error” dialogue when run.
- MASsoft or ESPsoft starts but gives “Status Change” dialogue when run.
- MASsoft crashes frequently
- MASsoft won't acquire data
- The same Mass Spectrometer appears twice in the "MassSpecs" menu list
- RS232 communication doesn't work.
- LAN communication doesn't work.
- Using MASsoft with Windows 3.1
- Using MASsoft with Windows For Workgroups 3.11
- Using MASsoft with Windows 95
- Using MASsoft with Windows 98
- Using MASsoft with Windows Me ( Millennium Edition )
- Using MASsoft with Windows NT 4.0 or greater
 (you are here - this section covers 23 - 28)
- Windows fails to start up.
- Windows fails to shutdown.
- Gateway Colorbook2 known problems
- MSIU beeps - Toshiba Satelite 1620 CDS Known Problem
- Mitac computers and PCI cards.
- Using MASsoft V 2.3 or earlier with Microsoft Office
- If none of the above helps.....
23. Windows fails to start up. PROBLEM Windows fails to start up. Windows hangs with the following message displayed: VDLCD.386 - Virtual DLC interrupt handler' By Steve Doughton. Copyright Hiden Analytical 1995 Release X.XX'
SOLUTION This message is replaces the Windows boot up banner very soon after Windows starts to load. It remains on the screen until the Windows desktop is displayed. If, at any point during the process of loading Windows, there is a problem then this text will be left on the screen. If your PC used ever occasionaly to lock up while starting Windows, it will, after you have installed the Hiden software, still occasionaly lock up but now it will display this screen when it does. This does not mean that the Hiden software has caused the problem. Only if this problem started to occur after the Hiden Software was installed, and if the problem is cured by uninstalling the Hiden Software, should the problem be attributed to loading VDLCD.386. As VDLCD.386 does little other than allocate some memory for buffer space when Windows loads the most likely cause of problems is a memory conflict. To test this boot to the DOS prompt ( or boot from a start up disk ) and use EDIT to add the line EMMExclude = A000-EFFF
to the [386Enh] section of SYSTEM.INI . The same address range needs to be excluded by EMM386 In your CONFIG.SYS file you will find lines similar to: device=c:\windows\himem.sys device=c:\windows\emm386.exe noems
If these lines do not exist then add them. To the emm386 line add x=a000-efff. The above example would become: device=c:\windows\emm386.exe noems x=a000-efff
Re-boot your PC. If it now boots correctly then the problem is a memory conflict. You now need to identify the conflicting address range. Refer to the documentation for your network, video and sound cards. Older network cards may require to use memory addresses D000-D7FFor D800-DFFF . VGA video cards may use A000-BFFF, SVGA cards C000 to C7FF. Change the excluded address to exclude potentially conflicting devices. To exclude more than one address range add an EMMExclude= line for each range and add x= range arguments to EMM386 e.g. device=c:\windows\emm386.exe noems x=c000-c7FF x=d000-d7ff
EMMExclude=C000-C7FF
EMMExclude=D000-D7FF
To determine other causes of start up problems examine the Bootlog.txt file.
To create a Bootlog.txt file press the F8 key as Windows 95 boots up. ( the easy way to do this is to insert a blank floppy in the drive and re-booted. When prompted for a boot disc remove the floppy and press F8 twice ). From the menu displayed select 2 Logged ( \BOOTLOG.TXT ) or the equivalent. After Windows has hung reset your PC and Press F8 as it boots again. This time boot to a DOS prompt by selecting “Command prompt only”. Use the DOS editor EDIT to examine the \BOOTLOG.TXT If the Hiden VDLCD VxD loads successfully you should find lines similar to: [000E5ECD] Loading Vxd = C:\PROGRA~1\HIDENA~1\COMMON\VDLCD.386
[000E5ECF] LoadSuccess = C:\PROGRA~1\HIDENA~1\COMMON\VDLCD.386
(Logo disabled)
At some point after this you may find a line that says LoadFailure=
or INITCOMPLETEFAILED =
e.g. [000E5FEE] INITCOMPLETE = SIS530V
[000E5FEE] INITCOMPLETEFAILED = SIS530V
These messages may indicate the problem device Examine the last line of the BOOTLOG.TXT file, this may indicate the last device to load or initialise. The procedures used to diagnose shutdown problems in these documents may also be of help:- Q145926, "How to troubleshoot Windows 95 Shutdown Problems"
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q145/9/26.asp
Q238096, "How to Troubleshoot Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Problems"
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q238/0/96.ASP
[index]
24. Windows fails to shutdown. PROBLEM Since installing MASsoft Windows fails to shutdown.
SOLUTION It is possible that MS DLC is trying to close a connection that it believes to be still open, and that communications problems are causing it to fail to do so. The time-outs on this operation are quite long ( 20s per attempt ); with 5 retries this could take nearly 2 minutes. Does Windows 95 fail to shut down even if you leave it for 5 minutes? Another problem can arise from the VDLCD.386 VxD. If this believes that an application is still using MS DLC when Windows shuts down it will display a blue screen text error message. Some display drivers fail to switch to VGA mode to display this. This usually results in vertical hold on the monitor being lost and an unreadable screen. You may experience this problem if you have difficulties running a DOS window full screen. These Microsoft Knowledge Base articles describe in detail procedures for diagnosing problems during shutdown Q145926, "How to troubleshoot Windows 95 Shutdown Problems"
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q145/9/26.asp Q238096, "How to Troubleshoot Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Problems"
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q238/0/96.ASP To determine other causes of shut down problems examine the Bootlog.txt file. To create a Bootlog.txt file press the F8 key as Windows 95 boots up. ( the easy way to do this is to insert a blank floppy in the drive and re-boot. When prompted for a boot disc remove the floppy and press F8 twice ). From the menu displayed select 2 Logged ( \BOOTLOG.TXT ) or the equivalent. When your PC has booted shut it down again. Re-boot your PC but do not select F8 this time; allow it to boot normally. Use the Windows editor Notepad to examine the \BOOTLOG.TXT The last few lines are the log of the shutdown process: e.g. Terminate = User
Terminate = Query Drivers
EndTerminate = Query Drivers
Terminate = Unload Network
EndTerminate = Unload Network
Terminate = Reset Display
EndTerminate = Reset Display
EndTerminate = User
Terminate = KERNEL
Terminate = RIT
EndTerminate = RIT
Terminate = Win32
EndTerminate = Win32
EndTerminate = KERNEL
Query Drivers Possible QEMM or other memory manager
Unload Network Possible conflict with real-mode network driver in the Config.sys file.
Reset Display Disable video shadowing. You may also need an updated video driver.
RIT Possible timer-related problems with the sound card or an old mouse driver
Win32 Problem with a 32-bit program blocking a thread. Possibly Microsoft Visual C for Windows.
Although annoying, being unable to shutdown Windows is unlikely to have serious side effects.
[index]
25. Gateway Colorbook2 known problems PROBLEM #1 Can't contact the MSIU using the RS232 link.
CAUSE The joystick mouse on this Notebook can interfere with the operation of the COM1: port which causes problems when using an RS232 link to the MSIU
SOLUTION contact Gateway who can supply a new driver.
PROBLEM #2 MASsoft crashes intermittently.
CAUSE The sound circuit can cause intermittent Unrecoverable Application Errors when enabled during MASsoft operation. These most often occur when opening extra Views on data.
SOLUTION Disable the sound circuitry using Windows Control panel.
[index]
26. MSIU beeps - Toshiba Satelite 1620 CDS Known Problem Model PS162E 18886-01
AMD K62+ 475MHz processor
Bios version 1.04A
PROBLEM When connected to a Toshiba Satelite 1620 CDS Notebook the MSIU either reboots every 30s ( MSIU emits beep 30s after power on, and every 30s thereafter or emits a rapid stream of short beeps depending on EPROM version. MASsoft will give report communication errors and will fail to interrogate.
CAUSE The problem is that the serial port is asserting a continuous space while the COMM port is closed; the MSIU interprets this as a continuous break signal. The serial port is currently "enabled" in the bios, the behaviour with the "auto" setting is the same. During boot-up the following sequence occurs: At power on goes high ( 14V = space = 0 ) When BIOS prompt appears goes low ( -14V = mark = 1 ) When Win98 F8 start-up menu displayed is still low During load of registry, config.sys & autoexec.bat stays low At WIN in Autoexec.bat is still low. If you say N to Load all windows drivers stays low and boots to Safe mode. Is low in safe mode. If you say Y to Load all windows drivers and step through the driversit stays low until MSMOUSE.VXD is loaded when it momentarily goes high then low. It remains low until the Toshiba splash screen is displayed at which point it goes high and remains high.
SOLUTION There is no known solution. Toshiba do not supply technical support so we have not been able find a solution or determine whether this problem was specific to the particular notebook This problem may apply to other models
[index]
27. Mitac computers and PCI cards. PROBLEM The D-Link DE-530 PCI network card gives problems with Mitac PB5800G motherboards.
CAUSE Mitac believe this is a PCI bus timing problem in the BIOS
SOLUTION Do not install DE-530 cards in Mitac PCs as the PC will no longer boot when the card is removed (there also appears to be a problem with the plug and play BIOS, even when disabled).
[index]
28. Using MASsoft V 2.3 or earlier with Microsoft Office PROBLEM With certain versions of Microsoft Office, MASsoft cannot be launched a second time without restarting Windows.
CAUSE There is a conflict between the version of ctl3dv2.dll used by Office and MASsoft.
SOLUTION Upgrading ctl3dv2.dll to the latest version, or upgrading to the latest version of MASsoft will normally cure this problem.
[index]
If none of the above helps.....   
| 
